Inside the Evolution of Pa’lante, From Ultralight Packs to Apparel & Beyond

In 2014 I thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, and within the first couple hundred miles, I found myself cutting straps and removing sections of my Z Lite to save a few ounces. I carried less toilet paper than was comfortable, and I ran out of food on more than one occasion because I had skimped my resupplies in hopes of going lighter and lighter. Foolish, yes, but this was common practice (strap-cutting, at least) a decade ago when ultralight backpacking occupied a fairly small slice of the thru-hiking cosmos.

This same year Joe “Stringbean” McCoughnay set a new fastest known time (FKT) on the Pacific Crest Trail, and when he went on to do the same for the Appalachian Trail in 2017, I found myself digging through his gear list in hopes of picking up some more refined weight-saving tactics. That’s when I first came across Pa’lante Packs, and in my head, the brand has always been the go-to for ultralight fastpacking endurance athletes. Earlier this year I was in the market for a new pack, so to Pa’lante I went.

I immediately thought I had landed on the wrong company when I came across a website bedazzled in lowercase red font with crystals dancing in the background. While they certainly still produce technical bags for covering big miles, you can also pick up Portuguese-made cork massage balls, titanium pipes, and technical fleece frocks to style yourself out on trail. Needless to say, Pa’lante is a breath of fresh air and offers a unique take on what we’ve come to expect from the now-crowded thru-hiking scene.

Pa’lante started in 2016 with 40 handsewn Simple Packs, a frameless bag focused on reducing unnecessary features and optimizing easy-to-access storage for more miles and less stopping. This was by no means a novel idea at the time, and my own Granite Gear bag circa 2014 offered chunky accessory pockets to keep snacks close at hand.

Nowadays a quick Google search for “ultralight backpack” yields dozens of options offering design features that Pa’lante pioneered and made accessible to a wider audience. Have you recently stashed your phone in the snazzy sewn-in pocket on your shoulder strap? Stored trash in the bottom pocket of your pack without breaking stride? Stuffed a wet tent in the outside mesh pocket to dry as you hike? You have Pa’lante to thank for these design innovations.

Like many brands, Pa’lante’s functional design touches come from nights and days and hours spent outside. The co-founders, who prefer to remain largely anonymous, draw most of their inspiration from the necessity of their own trips, whether it be hiking, skiing, canyoneering, or packrafting.

Outside of this, hobbies such as climbing, fly fishing, and skateboarding influence what the brand produces, too, and probably explains why their product “lifestyle” photos give an early 90’s vibe. Comparable brands showcase their products on the usual white background with a model posing here and there. Pa’lante shoots in backyards at friend’s houses, and it’s likely to feel more like a spread in an indie skate zine than a product page.

Speaking of skating, while the brand still supports Stringbean and other well-known endurance athletes, you can also find their gear on the likes of professional skateboarder and known trail runner Ryan Lay while hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail in his Epicly Later'd documentary on VICE. To me, this is the hallmark of Pa’lante. Yes, their gear has been trusted by hardcore hikers breaking records for nearly decade, with an attention to design detail second to none. But the brand is also playful and lighthearted. Their website is purposefully lo-fi and brand marketing strategy seemingly nonexistent. And through it all emerges a distinct personality that separates Pa’lante from so many other brands. It’s sort of the perfect IYKYK brand, right now.

“We try to not chase bigger trends and just make things we want to use,” one Pa’lante co-founder tells me. “Using our gear is the best way for us to keep adapting and tweaking our products. We try to keep our visuals pretty easygoing and relatable, and a large chunk of our media comes from actual hikes and outings. We just try to do our own thing and follow our interests.”

In the ultralight world, US-based cottage makers abound and are often a selling point for consumers, so I was surprised to see that most of Pa’lante’s offerings are now made in Asia. Lest we forget, sewing and the textile arts all but originated in that part of the world, and some of the best materials manufacturers are based there. While there can sometimes be a stigma against “Made in XXX,” the assumption that it’s merely a cost-savings decision for businesses is misleading and overlooks the expertise to be found in China and Southeast Asia.

“Places like Vietnam have decades of packmaking and technical sewing experience that are leagues beyond the production capabilities you can find in the USA."

Regardless of where the gear is made these days, Pa’lante is still firmly rooted in the DIY ethos of ultralight that’s been around for decades. Reminiscent of Ray Jardine’s MYOG kits, Pa’lante now offers patterns, instructions, and materials for the OG Simple Pack so that you can sew one for yourself at a fraction of the cost of a production bag. Why offer a download and a view into the secret sauce that’s made Pa’lante one of the most emulated brands in the thru-hiking community? To give back, plain and simple.

“We used kits like the one we sell as our introduction to making packs. It’s a really fun part of the community that we wanted to contribute to.”

In the spirit of the name—roughly meaning "meaning onward or to keep going"—I imagine Pa’lante will continue to innovate and push the boundaries of ultralight gear, whether it be through the lens of hiking, fly fishing, or enjoying a good ol’ backcountry toke.

Visit Pa'lante online Shop via Garage Grown Gear